VIDEO: Danvers National Little League Williamsport all-stars take down Amesbury to secure spot in District 15 title game

Joe McConnell jmcconnell@wickedlocal.com @joesportsWL

Tuesday

Jul 10, 2018 at 11:51 AMJul 11, 2018 at 1:07 AM

The Danvers National Little League all-star team is just one win away from winning the District 15 title after they totally dominated Amesbury to the tune of 16-4 Monday night, July 9, at Beverly’s Harry Ball Field.

The Danvers boys remain undefeated at 6-0, and will be taking on Amesbury again for the district title after it defeated Beverly, 2-1 in the losers' bracket final Tuesday night at Beverly. Amesbury has to beat Danvers twice, while the Nationals can secure the crown with a win Thursday night, July 12, at the Harry Ball complex, starting at 7:30 p.m.

In beating up Amesbury, the Danvers Nationals also humbled its star pitcher Trevor Kimball, who lasted just 1.1-innings before being taken out after throwing 50 pitches. Amesbury ended up using four other pitchers in this game with little success against Danvers’ vaunted lineup.

Kimball, however, supplied most of Amesbury’s offense with a two-run homer and a solo shot. He also launched a solo shot that defeated aforementioned Beverly to advance his teammates to the championship round.

Danvers scored three times in the first capped off by a two-run single from Jakob Hamel. They tacked on four more runs in the second. Mike Moroney, Danvers’ starting pitcher, blooped a double down the right-field line to account for two runs. Tim Bowler then came through with a run producing single later on in the frame.

Danvers scored twice more in the third and fourth innings to take an 11-2 advantage after Kimball broke Moroney’s shutout bid with his aforementioned two-run round tripper in the home half of the third. The local nine sealed the deal with five more in the sixth.

After the game, Danvers Nationals coach Stan Gesualdi said the extra work the team did in practice to prepare for Kimball’s assorted pitches got them used to a southpaw pitcher’s delivery.

"We had Danvers High School freshman Tyler Robinson throw to the kids during practice for two days, so they’d hopefully feel comfortable against Kimball," said Gesualdi.

The strategy obviously worked, but Gesualdi also credits the leadership of Jake Semons, Steve Reardon and Moroney for the team’s current undefeated record. Both Moroney and Reardon played on last year’s Williamsport team.

Moroney only had to throw 65 pitches over 3.2-innings, before being lifted for Jacob Creamer, who went the rest of the way on the hill. Moroney had seven strikeouts, while scattering four hits and hitting one batter. But he will be well-rested to pitch again in Thursday's district title game, something most of these players know something about after winning it the last two years in the 10- and 11-year-old tournament.